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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28820523">the sound of ice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowlsparrow/pseuds/crowlsparrow'>crowlsparrow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunter X Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, komugi/meruem - Freeform, meruem/komugi - Freeform, merukomu, merukomu madness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:48:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,742</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28820523</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowlsparrow/pseuds/crowlsparrow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“One ticket for the night.” Komugi doesn’t turn in the direction of the voice, but instead waits quietly. The last people are beginning to wrap up their routines for the late afternoon. Komugi knows that the music will fade out soon, the quiet will return. She also knows the man named Meruem will soon take to the ice, alone in the large building.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Komugi/Meruem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the sound of ice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s sharp and crisp, like scissors cutting through paper. Komugi loves the sounds of the blade as it runs over ice. She’s listened to it ever since she was young. But there are other things that come with it. There’s chatter and talking of people and the laughter of children and couples, the warmth of their conversations bleeds into music playing overhead. Some onlookers sit in the stands and shout words of encouragement to new skaters. The smell of pretzels, popcorn, and cotton candy. There’s a chill in the air, but often the place is very alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Komugi has felt this scene a thousand times and relives the moments in her sleep. In the afternoons, some people offer to play a game of gungi with her and it often is her only change of pace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The place is called </span>
  <em>
    <span>Iced Rink</span>
  </em>
  <span>, not that Komugi could read the sign. But she knows the place inside and out. She knows how many rows of seats there are and how many strides it takes to reach the end. She lives in the house next door with her parents and siblings that help run the place. Komugi is the only one that is exempt from that, being that she messes everything but gungi up with ease.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even though hundreds of people come through the doors just to lace up their skates and take to the ice, Komugi, whose family owns the indoor ice skating rink, has never touched the ice herself. She offered to work of course, but that ended after only one or two accidents within an hour. Her parents thought it best she did what she does best- and just listened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One ticket for the night.” Komugi doesn’t turn in the direction of the voice, but instead waits quietly. The last people are beginning to wrap up their routines for the late afternoon. Komugi knows that the music will fade out soon, the quiet will return. She also knows the man named Meruem will soon take to the ice, alone in the large building. It’s her favorite thing to listen to, his voice and his skating that is so clear compared to the chaos of the last few hours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although they’ve never spoken, Komugi knows Meruem. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Iced Rink</span>
  </em>
  <span> closes for the night, every night until recently. Komugi’s sister mentioned that she had her eyes on a man who came from a wealthy bloodline and possessed an incredible mind that captured the jealousy of those around him. He was the, as she heard her put it, ‘alpha male’. At the end of the day, she was very keen on letting the quick learner Meruem onto the ice during closed hours to earn his favor. The one who happened to spend most of her time listening to the people on the ice happened to be not her sister, but Komugi herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She liked the time when Meruem skated alone the most. Each movement of the skate echoed off of the tall ceilings, the lack of music was a stark contrast to the busy times during the day. Meruem never skated to music, nor did he request it. Even though he had never spoken to her personally, she felt as if she knew him. They had spent quite a few hours together, even if neither had said a word.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Komugi listened intently as he began his performance for the night, but with just her present, there were no eyes on the man himself. He, again, was performing for no one but Komugi’s intent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Komugi had held hundreds of skates during her short lifetime, she knew how sharp the edges were, the feel of the long laces and the stiffness of the shoe. She had no need to wear them herself, but sometimes she imagined what they felt like. With every turn of Meruem’s skate, she would bend her own ankles to match her imagination. She liked to think she would have good balance, that she herself could feel the roughness of the ice on bad days and glide across on the good. She wished she could be out on the ice like her siblings often were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” It was Meruem. Komugi knew immediately, but his voice was so close she froze from shock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was still for several seconds. “What am I… doing? Sir?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am listening.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listening? To me?” His words were curt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“T-To your skating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The brief silence made her uncomfortable, so unintentionally she found herself sitting up straighter. She thought she was used to the cold, but she found goosebumps trailing across her arms as she sat on the cool metal bench.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Suit yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Komugi didn't have a chance to reply as she heard the man skating away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sneezed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A cold?</span>
  </em>
  <span> She thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meruem couldn’t understand why the small, white-haired girl sat through the entire hour he skated last night. In fact, he could hardly understand why she was there at all. Did she have nowhere else to be? Why was she there after hours?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He checked in at the front, giving a curt nod to the women working there. The girl had talked to him quite a few times before and allowed him to stay after hours. He couldn’t help but think she seemed to resemble the timid girl he met last night. Their hair and face were similar, but their voices and mannerisms were very different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He practiced during the day, but often got frustrated with the amount of people present. The only times he was available didn’t coincide with the time for skilled skaters, but instead the rink was open to all ages. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem still preferred to skate during the day instead of not skating at all. As soon as he discovered the hobby as of recently, he found it was one of the other ways to take his mind off of work. So family skate or not- he tried to go as often as he could.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you see that girl?” A man, his wife, and their child skated side by side, objectively they were taking up a great deal of space in the rink and slowed everyone behind them down considerably. Meruem couldn’t help but hear their conversation due to their closeness as he trailed behind them. “She’s playing a game with some skaters taking a break, up there-” The man pointed, and Meruem’s gaze set upon the girl he had seen just last night. “She’s blind, but she can play. I’ve seen her here before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It confirmed his suspicion then. When they spoke, she hadn’t opened her eyes once for him. She seemed distracted when he approached at first, with closed eyes, laced hands, and a downcast face she was moving her ankles back and forth on the ground for whatever reason. He was going to ask if she was working there, to keep an eye on him. But within seconds that idea seems to go out the window with how absentminded she was. Keeping an eye on him? No, she wasn’t even looking at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He watched the little girl’s legs buckle in front of him, and the two parents gracefully lifted the child to get her skates underneath her. With a given opportunity and a careful pass he glided around them, but within only a few short strides found his eyes trailing up in the stands, again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The small girl’s frame seemed quiet and composed as she reached her hand for the gameboard with confidence and elegance he hadn’t expected. Why was she here? She didn’t skate.... she couldn’t skate. The idea of her trying and bumping into the nearest wall almost brought a smile to his face. He could imagine how her legs would wobble if she merely touched the ice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, it wasn’t Meruem’s problem to solve, anyway. He just needed to make use of the time left before he was called back to work. He didn’t need another thing to worry about. Meruem tried not to think about her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re here again.” Komugi had heard Meruem approach her this time, but even if she tried to prepare, she wasn’t sure what she should say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry Sir.” She mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem scoffed. “I don’t need an apology.” Silence passed between them, causing Komugi to once again become tense. She swallows, not knowing that Meruem studied her body and posture, unable to keep his curiosity to himself. “...Do you skate?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skate? Skate- no I don’t skate. Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you here?” Meruem watched the timid girl shuffle on the metal seat. His voice echoed off of the empty building walls, the light outside being very dark and everyone but them had gone home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I live here, Meruem Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know me?” His voice perks up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My sister has mentioned your name. I know you come at night, and, and I do like to listen, Sir, if you don’t mind.” She seemed to slightly shrink within herself in just a few questions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why listen?” He leaned over the railing of the skating rink, eyes fixed on Komugi. She sniffed, shuffled her feet, her fingers played with the white long sleeves of her sweaters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your skating is better alone,” She offers. “I- can hear it better when no one else is here, no music…” She suddenly turns slightly red, a blush dusting her cheeks as she looks down at the hands in her lap. “I sometimes like to imagine what it feels like to skate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. One might think that with the time he takes to reply his words would be thought out, and rational. Most of the time they are, but at that moment, his mind was completely blank as he opened his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to teach you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Teach… me?” The words out of Komugi’s lips are just as dumbfounded as Meruem was for offering. Meruem doesn’t know the first thing about teaching others, but something about leaving her alone on the bench felt wrong. The very idea churned his stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please!” She stands up abruptly, hands clasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shoes were tighter than Komugi expected. They hugged her ankles and her shoes. She had offered to tie them herself but suddenly found the man lacing them up with a swiftness she would have lacked otherwise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is this too tight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! No it is not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good.” There is a calm in his voice now, but Komugi is trying to not panic at their increasing closeness. She hadn’t expected anything at all of her staying to listen, she expected no conversations, and she least anticipated going on to the ice herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hold onto me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Komugi reacted to the direction with alarmingly little thought. Her hand reached out and he guided her hand onto his arm. Her first steps were shaky, her ankles threatening to give if not held by the stiffness of the boot. The ground underneath them was rubbery.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A newborn fawn, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Meruem thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Take one more step, you’ll be on the ice,” Meruem advised. Komugi was sure her heartbeat was loud enough to echo across the walls of the rink. She inhaled sharply, before placing just one foot forward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had practiced, of course, in her head what ice could feel like. But her body tried to react by stepping back, and instead, the one foot continued to slide forward. Panicking, she held onto Meruem, who simply lifted her hands and forced her back into a standing up position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One more time?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One more, please Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her first steps took more than a few minutes. Komugi hadn’t expected it, but Meruem was being incredibly patient with her progress. Now on the ice she clung to him, her legs moving forward but her stance anything but stable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just let me pull you. Try to stay standing.” Meruem’s hands slowly pried her grip from his arms, his fingers trailing down her forearm before their hands rested around her wrists, and hers his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem had practiced well enough to confidently skate backward, slow enough to pull the fragile girl along the ice. Now and then she practiced lifting a foot when it got too far away and bringing it back to a comfortable stance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re doing well.” He comments. Komugi tries to focus on the feeling of the ice, the sound of the blade, and not the pounding in her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you very much.” She practically whispers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meruem proceeded to stay at least 4 nights a week past closing for the next month. Instead of spending the time by himself as he once did, he immediately grabs skates for not himself, but also smaller ones for the smaller girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Komugi could now lace up the public ones by herself, with careful eyes watching. She was quite proud of it, actually, but Meruem was more proud of her progress on the ice. Her confidence had naturally grown as her ability had with his help. He wasn’t perfect at teaching, but the time and effort put forth by Komugi had started showing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem no longer needed to say anything before she took his hand and he guided her to the gate. They step onto the ice at the same time now, and Komugi laces one hand with his. There’s a small smile on his face as he watches her, but she doesn’t know it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They can now skate together at a reasonable pace, and the result is more satisfactory than Meruem had ever anticipated. “It’s snowing outside.” He comments.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My sister had told me so when I woke up.” Komugi notes, stuttering less and less as their relationship progressed. “I love the sound of snow when you walk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem nods, adjusting his hand in her grip. “I have something I wanted to give you tomorrow, would you mind?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Komugi tries to hide it but she is immediately flustered. “Me? You have something for, I mean something for… me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meruem squeezes her hand. “I said so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Komugi nods her head enthusiastically. “I would very much like something from you, Meruem Sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> There was a second of silence afterward, which wasn’t unusual between the two and now was rather comfortable for both of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Actually, I think I’ll give it to you now. I don’t want to wait.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Now? Right now?” Komugi is pulled along as Meruem heads for the gate and suddenly he sits her down on the bench and removes her shoes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Wait here for a minute.” Meruem places the guards on his skates and suddenly disappears, leaving Komugi alone in the building.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She is stunned. Her heart is beating way too fast for it to be safe but she’s also embarrassed by how much she misses his presence, despite the fact it’s only been a minute. She holds her head in her hands before the sound of his skates makes their way back into the room. She isn’t sure what to think or do, but her body practically vibrates in anticipation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Open it.” Meruem places a box on her lap, and her hands delicately feel over it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Wrapping paper?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “It was going to be a gift,” He notes, “For Christmas, but I thought I’d give it to you now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Her hands lightly rip and pull where she finds a fold in the wrapping, and lifts open the lid. She feels around and finds crumpled up paper, but then they glide over a smooth surface. “Did you…?” Her hands fumble around more, lightly pulling out the paper packed inside. Her hands find laces… and a blade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “They’re white, I thought they would look good on you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Komugi finds tears trailing down her face, her hands run to wipe them from her cheeks before they fall on her important gift. “Thank you!” Her voice is weak and almost breaks, but she can’t stop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She’s happy. She hadn’t been this happy in a long time, and the feeling of the shoes beneath her hands lit a fire that had been dying in her soul for a long, long time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She placed the box carefully on the side, and with open arms they wrapped around the young man's waist. Her warm tears was a shock to Meruem, as she buried her face into his chest and did nothing but cry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Cry? Why was she crying?</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Thank you!” She sobbed again, “Thank you for teaching me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> He found his hand slowly settling around her waist, one reaching up tentatively to stroke her hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “No problem.” He mumbled.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>made for the story contest, a merukomu winter.</p><p>merukomu discord invite! https://discord.gg/g4Shp8mmBN</p><p>thank you for reading :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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